Orange/EE iPhone6 contract shenanigans

JayP82

Can anyone with some savvy shed a little light here please?

So im an Orange/EE customer who has just spent the best part of 3 days trying to pre-order the godphone6, an experience which has left me pretty P'ed off thanks to EE.

To cut a long story short, after an arduous marathon-telephone expedition along the treacherous path through the vast and dense overgrowth that is 'the call center'....i was finally told that i could not upgrade to the iPhone6 as an Orange customer!? To do this i would need to start a new contract with EE as the iPhone 6 is only available with EE, not Tmobile or Orange...err, hang on

I thought i was an EE customer?! No?! The logo next to the signal bars on the screen of my phone show 'EE' and when i sign into 'My Account' online i log into EE via the EE website.....but you're saying im not with EE?! You what?!

So basically - Orange is Bond. EE is 'M'. Bond has been captured by the enemy, naturally 'M' denies any knowledge or affiliation with Bond. Therefore, Bond is left stranded in the proverbial as his trusty gadgets no longer work as they "don't have the necessary privileges to view the page" coz 'M' has suddenly decided that she doesn't know a Mr Bond and un-freinded him on facebook......

That actually makes more sense to me!

So now that i want to upgrade my phone, looking for a deal with better value for money, i'm no longer affiliated with EE...im now purely an Orange customer, forced to switch to a more expensive contract?! Oh right, because Orange and EE aren't part of the same company are they....What?!?!

Can anyone see my point here?

So "Whats the problem?", you ask. "Just sign up with EE, if you're already with them whats the problem?".
The problem is that i would lose my currently discounted contract (Which they say cannot be done) as i would have to sign up to a new, overpriced EE contract.

But i AM with EE....surely....am i not?!?! What the eff man!?

I don't know, and regardless, how can they get away with this? Does it not seem a bit ropey? It doesn't seem right to me.They are FORCING customers into a more expensive 2 year contract, monopolizing the demand for the i6.
I presume O2 and Three. are allowing their customers to upgrade their phone to the iPhone6? Maybe they charge a small fee for the cost of the handset but surely they get to keep their contract, or at the least loyalty rewards, discounts etc?!?

Or am i a complete bell end with an unrealistic, idealistic view on the subject?!

I paid £200 for my 36GB iPhone5 when it was released with unlimited calls and txts, 1GB data for £36 a month.
I then had this reduced to £26 per month and then reduced further to £24 per month with an additional 1.5Gig of data.

Today I was given the choice of going with their £41 a month contract which gives you 1000 mins, unlimited txts and a Gig of data with a handset cost of £200.

(The above offer is available on their website but the handset is priced at £189, not the £200 i was quoted over the phone!) Go figure. (Both contracts include 4G)

It looks to me that they are charging extra for the 4G part of the contract, which is fair enough, except i don't want to be charged for 4G as i cant actually use it. You cannot get 4G anywhere near where i live, there isn't any coverage. Id have to travel over 60 miles to London to benefit from it!!!

Should they not be offering contracts without 4G as there are many like me who cannot use it due to lack of coverage?

Its like selling someone a delorian with a flux capacitor but telling them they cannot actually time travel coz they do not have any plutonium to produce the necessary 1.2 gigawatts!!

It seems as though EE are despicably squeezing more pounds from its customers and i cant stomach it, there must be some sort of argument here? they are charging more for contracts which were previously lower and still asking for large handset costs...

WHAT CAN WE DO?!

balletshoes

you could give notice to Orange, then go with another provider for your Iphone6? Or even better, buy the iphone6 outright from Apple and get a sim only plan which suits your usage needs.

Quiet_Spark

JayP82 wrote: »

The problem is that i would lose my currently discounted contract (Which they say cannot be done) as i would have to sign up to a new, overpriced EE contract.

If you upgrade then it starts a new contract anyway as the original deal has changed.

JayP82 wrote: »

WHAT CAN WE DO?!

Not a lot, nobody is going to give away a £620 handset for less than what Apple say it costs. I'm afraid if you want the latest (but certainly not the greatest) handset then you'll have to cough up like the rest of the followers.

MataNui

I do know what you mean. I am currently looking at upgrading (I have 2 contracts i can upgrade, One Orange, One T-Mobile) but if i want a new phone i can only upgrade to EE. Thing is EE is a massive rip off. It would be cheaper to get a new phone from CPW on voda or O2, get it unlocked and put my existing T-Mobile sim in it. So cheaper to pay my T-Mobile existing contract PLUS a new Voda or O2 contract than upgrade to EE.

JayP82

@ Quiet Spark
in the past when i've upgraded i've paid an amount towards the cost of a new handset but kept my contract. Upgrading your phone does not constitute a change in contract but a change in phone.

the problem here is they say i cannot upgrade to iphone6 as i am with orange not ee. But i am with ee?! They are using technicalities to force people onto the more expensive contracts...sorry that was not clear to you in my post, i thought it was.

To be clear, i am not trying to get something for nothing, i am willing to pay a price what is fair. the worlds best selling, highest accoladed, most innovative smartphone obviously comes at a cost and i am willing to pay. Apple are not at fault...

but what i object to is ee hiking the prices of their contracts to include 4G when it is useless to me. i cant use it, why should i have to pay for something that i cannot make use of?! (I guess the back to the future reference wasn't as clever as i thought it was) surely they should be offering contracts which do not include the use of 4G??

the cost of the handset should be reflected in the cost of the contract. they are relevant, so increasing the cost of the contract should in fact reduce the cost of the phone. however, ee are increasing both.

i am questioning if they really can actually do this?

@ Balletshoes Thank you for your input

@MataNui Similar point to balletshoes. i don't want to pay for the handset outright, although this would be the most cost effective. You're right about ee though. they are ripping the !!!! out of people...surely it is in some way un-permissable?!
I simply refuse to just swallow the crap they are forcing down peoples throats, i cant believe the can or should be allowed to get away with it.

Someone in the forums here should know the lagalities involved, right?

O2 are looking like the way forward

gycraig_2

they are all merging into ee why would they put the better deals on the 3g networks rather then the 4g ones. Its standard procedure now just to upgrade to ee and has been for a long time with orange and tmobile giving rubbish value overall.

your hardly tied into a contract so if you dont like the new EE scheme leave :S

if you buy a phone on launch day you will always get ripped off, 2 months and it be at 37 a month nothing up front.

gycraig_2

JayP82 wrote: »

@ Quiet Spark
in the past when i've upgraded i've paid an amount towards the cost of a new handset but kept my contract. Upgrading your phone does not constitute a change in contract but a change in phone.

the problem here is they say i cannot upgrade to iphone6 as i am with orange not ee. But i am with ee?! They are using technicalities to force people onto the more expensive contracts...sorry that was not clear to you in my post, i thought it was.

To be clear, i am not trying to get something for nothing, i am willing to pay a price what is fair. the worlds best selling, highest accoladed, most innovative smartphone obviously comes at a cost and i am willing to pay. Apple are not at fault...

but what i object to is ee hiking the prices of their contracts to include 4G when it is useless to me. i cant use it, why should i have to pay for something that i cannot make use of?! (I guess the back to the future reference wasn't as clever as i thought it was) surely they should be offering contracts which do not include the use of 4G??

the cost of the handset should be reflected in the cost of the contract. they are relevant, so increasing the cost of the contract should in fact reduce the cost of the phone. however, ee are increasing both.

i am questioning if they really can actually do this?

@ Balletshoes Thank you for your input

@MataNui Similar point to balletshoes. i don't want to pay for the handset outright, although this would be the most cost effective. You're right about ee though. they are ripping the !!!! out of people...surely it is in some way un-permissable?!
I simply refuse to just swallow the crap they are forcing down peoples throats, i cant believe the can or should be allowed to get away with it.

Someone in the forums here should know the lagalities involved, right?

O2 are looking like the way forward

its completely up to ee tmobile and orange what they put there prices at and its completely up to you whether you renew with them.

d123

JayP82 wrote: »

i was finally told that i could not upgrade to the iPhone6 as an Orange customer!? To do this i would need to start a new contract with EE as the iPhone 6 is only available with EE, not Tmobile or Orange...err, hang on

I thought i was an EE customer?! No?! The logo next to the signal bars on the screen of my phone show 'EE' and when i sign into 'My Account' online i log into EE via the EE website.....but you're saying im not with EE?! You what?!


So now that i want to upgrade my phone, looking for a deal with better value for money, i'm no longer affiliated with EE...im now purely an Orange customer, forced to switch to a more expensive contract?! Oh right, because Orange and EE aren't part of the same company are they....What?!?!

Can anyone see my point here?

It's really simple, and they've done a bad job if they haven't got you to understand.

Everything Everywhere is the parent company, it has 3 separate businesses operating called T-Mobile, Orange and EE 4G. You are a customer of Orange, only the EE 4G business is offering the iPhone 6.

If you want an iPhone 6 you agree to transfer to the EE part of the business. You don't like their plans, you stay on Orange and buy the phone sim free or give notice and move elsewhere.

Just like you wouldn't demand a Skoda Superb from a Volkswagen dealer, same company, different subsidiary.

niktheguru

I have two contracts, one is a 4gee contract (with an iphone 5s, still 1yr left) and one is an orange one which has completed its term. I am currently in the process of getting an iphone 6 for this orange one.

Now like the OP has found out, there are really not many "deals" on the new iphone. All the carriers are charging a premium for the device. If you want another type of phone you can probably get a deal (with much haggling with retentions....its not as easy as it used to be) but don't expect anything with ee/orange.

I have decided to go the sim free way. This way you can buy an unlocked iphone 6 from apple from £539, and then either continue with your contract which you are happy with, or get a sim only deal. (which i have done)

EE are currently offering the following SIM only deal for orange/t-mobile customers either direct or via their shops

2000mins
unlimited texts (for what its worth)
free 08 numbers
5gig 4G data

£9.99 for 6 months, then £20 for 6 months on a 12 MONTH contract.

(if you want unlimited mins and 9gig data, its £11.50 for 6 months, and 23 for 6 months on 12 month contract)

This is the more financially viable option, if you have 500 odd quid available upfront.
All the contracts are going to be expensive, perhaps the only one which will be a bit less is tesco mobile that don't seem to be charging an upfront cost for the phones, but the contract tariff for anything near what you currently have will be more than £35 a month.

Hope that helps.

biggysnax

If you wish to stay with Orange and simply upgrade without moving over to EE, you can do this with Carphone Warehouse as I did it with my pre-order. My wife is bothered about 4G and you pay a premium for it. We are paying £39.99 a month for unlimited calls and texts and 1Gb of data, with a free phone.

gycraig_2

biggysnax wrote: »

If you wish to stay with Orange and simply upgrade without moving over to EE, you can do this with Carphone Warehouse as I did it with my pre-order. My wife is bothered about 4G and you pay a premium for it. We are paying £39.99 a month for unlimited calls and texts and 1Gb of data, with a free phone.

for pretty much every smart phone it is cheaper on ee as orange are trying to push people onto 4g handsets/tarriffs.